"They always deliver": How We Are Adam helped Thornton & Ross find

Susannah Tavartkiladze is no stranger to challenging recruitment projects. With 26 years’ experience, she has sourced everything from Executive leaders through to huge, 80-vacancy projects. When she was approached by Thornton & Ross, part of STADA Group, about a sizable, nationwide recruitment project, she relished the challenge.

This isn’t the first time We Are Adam and Susannah have recruited for Thornton & Ross. We have worked closely with the team at Thornton & Ross to fill a multitude of different roles; Susannah completed a volume recruitment project with them in 2021, as well as dozens of one-off roles across the business. It’s safe to say that she knows them inside out and can accurately identify the perfect fit for both the role and the company.

The Project

This was a multi-vacancy project that consisted of a nationwide search to find experienced Healthcare Partnership Managers for various territories across the UK. When it came to briefing the project, Lynne Davies, Resourcing Business Partner, knew that Susannah would be the perfect person to approach.

“I have been working with the team at Thornton & Ross for several years now, and this was the second multi-vacancy project that I have worked on. I always enjoy working with the team there!” - Susannah

Thornton & Ross and We Are Adam have enjoyed a close relationship for many years now. We have an incredibly good understanding of their business, and what their particular needs are when it comes to candidates.

“Susannah and the team at We Are Adam have a really good understanding of the teams within Thornton & Ross, as well as the roles. We have had great feedback from the candidates that have already been placed with us, so it made sense to bring Susannah in to help with this project.” – Lynne Davies, Thornton & Ross

Susannah was working alongside Thornton & Ross’ internal recruitment team to fill multi-territory Healthcare Partnership Manager vacancies in different locations across the UK. The main challenge with this project was the types of candidates required. Pharmaceutical sales professionals are always in demand, often getting approached by Headhunters.

In order to counter this, Susannah and her Researcher for this project, Becky, worked out a strategy to present the vacancies to potential candidates in a transparent, honest way. It was important to take a holistic approach, finding out exactly what these sales professionals wanted from their careers, and if Thornton & Ross could help them achieve this. Susannah got to know each candidate and their professional interests and would use this knowledge to help uncover the right person for each position.

Working with Susannah

Susannah kicked off the project the way she always does – by having a deep dive discovery session with the team at Thornton & Ross. Susannah prefers to have a solid understanding of every single role and team that she recruits for, so there were a fair number of questions!

“Susannah invested time up front to get a good understanding of what we were looking for, and once she had it, she used it to great effect.” – Lynne Davies

The volume of people and the timescales in which they were needed – as soon as possible! – made this project tricky. However, we always relish a challenge! Lynne was impressed with the speed at which Susannah worked, and the quality of candidates which were presented to Thornton & Ross.

“Working with Thornton & Ross is always a great experience. The entire team value the experience and knowledge that I can bring, and we worked together as a team to help position the roles in an attractive way.” – Susannah Tavartkiladze

We Are Adam has always been about relationships over everything else. We pride ourselves on giving our candidates an excellent experience, whether they are ultimately successful or not. It brings us great pride to see Susannah, and the wider team, embody our values!

“She really pulled out all the stops to get the right people for us. We received very regular updates through the whole project, on top of a scheduled weekly catch-up call.” – Lynne Davies

The Candidates

By the conclusion of the project, Susannah had filled the majority of the Healthcare Partnership Managers vacancies, with Thornton & Ross’ internal team filling the remaining positions.

“Susannah presented us with shortlists of very high-calibre candidates to chose from. The quality of the research into candidates was just great.” – Lynne Davies

As part of the recruitment process, selected candidates were to spend the day at Thornton & Ross’ Assessment Centre. Susannah worked with both Thornton & Ross and the candidates to help co-ordinate access to the Assessment Centre for all candidates, as well as helping to facilitate an online alternative for those who were unable to travel to the site on the day.

All of the candidates reported that their experience, whether successful or not, was a positive one – something which we always strive for at We Are Adam!

“Although we are early days after the project, I am very confident that our newest team members are going to succeed and thrive in their roles.” – Lynne Davies

When asked what stood out to her about working with Susannah and the We Are Adam team, Lynne had the following to say:

“There are a lot of recruitment agencies out there and I’ve worked with many in my career, but few that stand out like We Are Adam, who always deliver. They are a smaller boutique style agency that partner very closely with their clients to really understand the roles and commercial drivers well and can therefore then match the relevant skillset of candidates to meet the current and future business needs. Susannah strikes a great balance between being service driven and candidate focused.” – Lynne Davies

And it seems that this project has left its mark on Susannah, too..

“It’s a highlight for me that I have been able to source a winning team for a winning company – Thornton & Ross. Working with them is always a pleasure, but the feedback I have received from both Line Managers and the Recruitment team has really made my year!” – Susannah

We want to extend a huge thank you to Lynne Davies for generously giving up her time to help us produce this case study.